The Pick of the Day is a 2015 Audi R8 V10 plus listed by a New York dealership on ClassicCars.com.
Every now and then, a car pops up that’s not only interesting and a great fit for the Pick of the Day, but is also a car I’ve driven and can tell you about personally. Today’s 2015 Audi R8 V10 plus is one of those cars. In fact, it has the same Ice Silver Metallic paint, Carbon Sigma “sideblades,” and 19-inch wheels as the R8 I tested several years ago.
In 2015, while I was a freelance automotive journalist near Austin, Texas, I was scheduled to be in a certain press car (I forgot what it was a long time ago) the week my then-girlfriend was going to be in from out of state. A day or so before she was supposed to fly in, the media fleet manager emailed me to inform me that that car was getting pulled out of the rotation. I told him I understood that things like that happen, but that I was looking forward to having that car since my girlfriend would be visiting. He responded with something to the effect of, “Check the revised schedule. I think you’ll like what you see.”
He was right. I had never driven an Audi before. What’s more, I had never been in a mid-engine car, especially one with a 550-horsepower 5.2-liter V10 that let out such an forgettable mechanical wail.
The R8 V10 plus was almost everything I expected it to be. I knew it was going to be more low-key than its Lamborghini corporate cousin – as low-key as a $196,500, low-slung two-seater could be. I liked that it announced its arrival anywhere without shouting.
Like many Audis, its interior was attractive and of high quality, a mixture of Nappa leather seats, an aluminum shifter, and carbon fiber accents. Of course, the V10 behind me was powerful (and amplified by quattro all-wheel drive). But it was also part of the R8’s biggest surprise. The stiff suspension helped the R8 hold the road so securely and kept it so planted that no matter how deep I pushed the gas pedal or how quickly the S tronic seven-speed dual-clutch automatic changed gears, I felt as if I was going 20 mph slower than I actually was. That’s fine when you’re doing 60, but things change when you think you’re doing 80. In a sly way, the Audi R8 V10 plus was literally “scary fast.”
Perhaps the previous owners of this particular R8 learned that lesson themselves. If they did, they didn’t blow through a lot of miles during the process because there are only 37,166 miles on the odometer. If you pay the selling dealer’s $129,900 asking price, you can learn about the first generation of Audi’s modern supercar in the comfort of heated, diamond-quilted leather seats while surrounded by the sound coming from a Bang & Olufsen audio system and the safety of responsive ceramic brakes. You’ll need those once you see the speedometer needle went way past where you thought it was. I know from experience that it will.
Click here to view the listing for this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com.
Source: www.classiccars.com